Chapter 4 The First Touch

Selene awoke to silence.

Not the eerie, blood-soaked quiet that followed her screams or the kind laced with danger. This was gentler. Softer. The kind that wrapped around her like silk and let her forget-for just a moment-that she was a weapon shaped in darkness.

The bed beneath her was unfamiliar but warm. The sheets smelled of pine and leather, laced with a scent that made her pulse stir before her mind even caught up-Kael. She sat up slowly, the blanket falling from her shoulders, revealing the faint shimmer of her skin under firelight.

The room was dim, stone walls catching the flicker of flame, casting shadows that danced like spirits.

She was alone.

No chains. No guards.

A thick-bound leather journal lay on the bedside table, along with a silver fountain pen. The same one she had used before.

Her fingers twitched toward it.

"Good," a voice murmured. "You're awake."

Kael stepped from the shadows. His shirt was undone, clinging to his damp skin, his dark hair tousled like he'd been running his hands through it for hours. He looked... wrecked.

"Don't move too fast," he said, crossing to her. "You've been out for a while."

Her lips pressed into a line as she reached for the pen and began writing.

Where are the others?

Kael read her words as she turned the journal.

"Ronan and the warriors are patrolling. We've sealed the territory. No one gets in or out unless I say so."

She nodded and wrote again.

You don't trust me.

His eyes darkened. "I don't trust anything I don't understand. And you..." He stepped closer, voice lowering, "You're the most confusing thing I've ever touched."

Touched.

Her pulse kicked up.

He saw it. Felt it.

"And yet," he added, voice thickening, "you feel like mine."

She wrote one word.

Why?

Kael looked down at the journal, then back at her. "Because the moment I saw you, every instinct I had screamed mate.My wolf didn't give me a choice."

She wrote quickly.

You marked me without my consent.

Kael flinched.

"I didn't mean to. I-" He shook his head. "You were bleeding out. I thought you'd die. My wolf took control. But I won't apologize for keeping you alive."

Her throat tightened. She scribbled fast.

You don't get to decide what saving me looks like.

He took the journal, reading her words. His jaw clenched.

"You're right," he said after a long silence. "But I'm not letting you go."

She didn't respond. Instead, she reached for the pen again.

I can't shift.

The words sat on the page like a confession.

Kael froze.

"What do you mean?"

She met his eyes, steady, and wrote again.

My wolf is sealed. I feel her. But I haven't shifted in over ten years.

Kael sat down on the edge of the bed, brows drawn. "Sealed how?"

She hesitated. Then turned her wrist, exposing the faint remains of a sigil etched into her skin. Faded, but still pulsing.

"They did this to you?"

She nodded once.

"Who?"

She wrote:

Witches.

Kael growled low in his throat. "You're bound by their magic."

She nodded again.

His hands clenched on his knees. "Then we'll break it."

Selene's lips parted, surprise flickering across her face.

"I'll break every curse, every sigil, every spell they ever used to trap you." His voice was rough, full of gravel and promise. "You're mine. And nothing-nothing-gets to cage what's mine."

A tremble slid down her spine.

His energy had shifted.

More possessive. More primal.

More... dangerous.

"I've wanted to touch you again since the moment I marked you," he whispered, voice thick with hunger.

Her body stiffened-but she didn't pull away.

Kael's hand reached for her, tentative at first, brushing a loose strand of hair from her cheek. Her skin prickled at the contact.

"Say no," he rasped, "and I'll stop."

She didn't say anything.

Didn't blink.

Didn't write.

Just stared at him.

Breathing shallow.

Kael took it for what it was.

Permission.

His lips captured hers-soft, gentle, coaxing. She tensed instinctively, the memories of pain and control curling in the shadows of her mind.

But Kael didn't push.

He kissed like he was waiting for her to melt-and she did. Slowly. Her hands found the edge of his shirt, fisting it as she pulled him closer. He groaned into her mouth, deepening the kiss. Heat spiraled between them, molten and consuming.

"Lie back," he said, voice low, rough.

She obeyed.

Not from command-but choice.

He hovered above her, one hand at her waist, the other brushing the hollow of her throat. "You're not broken," he murmured. "You're surviving."

His hands slid beneath her shirt, lifting it gently. Her skin was marred with scars, old sigils long since faded, runes burned in places no child should have borne pain.

Kael's gaze didn't flinch.

He kissed every one.

Worshipped them.

"You're sacred," he growled.

She gasped silently when his mouth found the curve of her breast, tongue circling slowly around the peak before drawing it in. Her back arched.

Kael slid her pants down, slow and reverent, revealing thighs that trembled as cool air hit heated skin.

He looked up, eyes smoldering.

"Tell me you want this."

Selene reached for the pen, breathing hard.

But instead of writing-she flipped the journal to a blank page.

And drew a heart.

Kael smiled-a savage, triumphant thing.

Then he kissed his way down her stomach, tongue tracing the ridge of her hips, his hands spreading her thighs wide.

"You're already wet for me," he murmured, dragging two fingers through her heat. "So responsive. So perfect."

She bit her lip hard as he teased her-circling, stroking, pulling her to the edge and then stopping.

Over.

And over.

Until she was writhing, legs trembling.

"Look at me," Kael growled.

She did.

And he sank his mouth over her, tongue sliding deep, slow, relentless.

Her fingers dug into the mattress.

Her silent cries echoed only in her mind.

Kael devoured her like she was his last breath.

And when she was shaking, bucking, her body thrumming with fire-

He stopped.

Held her there.

On the brink.

"Say it," he demanded. "Say you're mine."

Tears slipped down her cheeks from the pressure, the pain, the unbearable pleasure.

Her lips moved-

Yours.

The bond between them pulsed like lightning.

Kael's control shattered.

He plunged two fingers deep, curling perfectly, while his mouth sucked her clit between his teeth-and Selene came hard.

Her entire body convulsed, light bursting beneath her skin.

Silver.

Brilliant.

Blinding.

The runes on her arms ignited.

The room shook.

The mirror behind them cracked down the center.

Kael staggered back, breathless, eyes wide.

"Selene..."

She sat up.

Her eyes glowed silver, molten and wild.

From deep within her chest came a low, vicious growl.

For the first time-her wolf stirred.

And then-

The light vanished.

She collapsed back against the pillows, panting silently.

Kael rushed to her side. "Selene-?"

She opened her eyes, dazed.

Then screamed.

No sound.

Just pure, primal anguish.

It echoed through the bond like thunder.

Kael's heart stopped.

Because this wasn't pain.

It was awakening.

And something ancient inside her had just opened its eyes.